Satanism: The Misconceptions

Let me begin by clarifying that there are two recognized sects of Satanism: LaVeyan and Theistic.

Theistic Satanists are those who truly belive that Lucifer exists and that he "blessed" mankind with knowledge which God forbade them. These people do worship Satan, yet follow many of the same moral codes as Christians. They believe in self-preservation and follow the rules of "civil society" in order survive in this manner. However, they are not one large group and are usually divided into smaller orgs or churches. They do not sacrifice animals, babies or virgins. They have a strict "no killing" rule and only offer prayers and lighted candles to their chosen deity.

LaVeyan Satanists are based on the written works of Anton Szandor LaVey who passed away in 1999. He was a philosopher who reasoned that the Devil is NOT REAL. He merely represent those things which mankind is naturally inclined to indulge in. In other words, "Satan" is merely the embodiment of what Christians would call "sin". Like the words "darkness" and "nothing" LaVeyans believe that the word "satan" is simply the word for a LACK of "moral value" rather than a physical thing. Therefore, they do not worship Lucifer in any real or theistic sense.

LaVeyan Satanists make up the large majority of practicing Satanists in the world. They indulge in free sexual lifestyles coupled with freedom of speech and creativity. They celebrate their own birthdays as the most important holiday of the year because they believe that they alone are in control of their lives. Displaying an existential nihlism, satanists believe that they are not obligated to please anyone but themselves and no one is obligated to please them.

What about the devil worshipping cults?
There has been no proof that they exist. Every case which mentions a "devil worship sacrifice" has been solved with real murderers who had real motives. In some cases, like with the West Memphis Three, people were falsely imprisoned because of religious bigotry. In that case, the young men were accused of "devil worshiop" simply because of how they dressed and the books they chose to read (H.P. Lovectraft, Aleister Crowley) These were inconclusive and unrelated facts which, when brought to an ill-informed jury managed to convince them that, by proxy, the young men were cultists and murderers.

This phenomenon is referred to as "moral panic". When an influential religious power finds an enemy to blame for the ails of society, then citizens who are scared are more likely to agree with the accusers rather than the victims. Another example would be the Salem Witch trials. In fact, you can even go further back to Europe and discover that over 400 men and women were put to death for simply "being different". Many of these people were simply educated women who enjoyed boks more than husband-hunting. the funny thing is, the oft quoted Bible phrase "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" was mis translated from the original, NON ENGLISH text. The phrase, back in context of the original book was warning Christians against visiting fortune tellers and telling them "not to support them finacially" by paying these phoney seers. Of course, over decades of panic, the phrase was misused to persecute hundreds of innocent people.

How do you know they don't secretly kill babies and goats?
Simple, I read the 9 Satanic principles. I cannot vouch for the innocence of every Satanist in the world (not any more than I can guarantee that every Christian is innocent of crime) but I can definately state that the Satanic Church is officialy against murder, rape and human sacrifice. Especially children and animals.

The 9 Principles, sometimes called the "anti-Commandments" are rules to follow for every Satanist. One of these is "Satanism respects and exalts life. Children and animals are the purest expressions of that life force, and as such are held sacred and precious." Satanists believe that the life we live now is our only one. There is no "afterlife" so they enjoy the current life to its fullest. This sometimes includes violating the "rules" of the Christian church as it often involves overindulgence in one of the 7 deadly sins, however, they are forbidden to violate the rights and freedoms of others in their own path for enjoyment.

But what about all those site which describe sacrifice and devil worshipping?
If you trace them back, many of those sites are run by Christian foundations. They are either uneducated and simply believe what they have been told, so they repeat it to the masses. Or, a less benign site will actually make up stories much in the way Abigail Williams did. Some people create things to fear because it gives them something to fight. Not all Christian churches are run this way, many of them focus on love, understanding and tolerance. However, there are a few Christians who see everything from heavy metal music to homosexuality as "the work of the devil" and will find his "worshippers" wherever they find these things they disagree with morally. However, as has already been stated, you will not find many satanists who even believe in the Devil's existence, much less "worship" him. The largest Satanic Church, located in Eastern Europe is actually centered around the idea of "non-religion" or finding faith within oneself. Again, no sacrifices.

sources:
http://http://www.churchofsatan.com/
http://www.theisticsatanism.com/politics/LaVey/9_statements.html
http://www.wm3.org/splash.php
http://www.goodfight.org/a_sataniccults.html <-- example of a misinformed site spreading rumors as fact.